Telcos are dealing with dozens of small broadband and mobile outages following Cyclone Vaianu.
Damage and power cut-related loss of service is concentrated on the East Coast, but the area appears to have escaped the widespread communications blackouts it suffered in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.
“We’re working closely with Nema [National Emergency Management Agency] and local civil defence to get access to the most affected region, which appears to be Tairāwhiti,” Telecommunications Carriers Forum chief executive Paul Brislen said.
The industry group’s members include Chorus, Spark, One NZ and 2degrees.
“Roads are impassable at the moment but we are in contact with the sector co-ordinating entities to ensure we get priority access,” Brislen said.
“The impacts are largely related to power and we need access to move generators and fuel into the region.
“Other than that, we’ve had some isolated impacts but thankfully have avoided any major issues around the country. The networks have stood up well.”
A spate of mobile outages in Northland have now largely been resolved. Most were at cell towers run by the Rural Connectivity Group, a joint venture between Spark, One NZ, and 2degrees.
Remaining mobile outages are largely centred around the Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.
“There are currently 14 One NZ cell sites down, primarily in Bay of Plenty, East Cape and Hawke’s Bay,” One NZ spokesman Matthew Flood said this morning.
“These are all due to power.
“We’re expecting this to improve throughout the day as we get access and deploy generators where needed.”
Multiple sections of state highways around the East Coast are still closed.
A 2degrees spokesman said, “We have seven sites down at the moment, all due to power supply. We will get generators to them where we can.”
Chorus said parts of Ponsonby had also lost internet over the weekend.
“Technical teams advised that a fibre pit and power cables have been damaged,” the company said. An anticipated midday service resumption notice has been replaced by one saying: “We’re currently unable to provide a restoration time.”
Spark’s outages map has 17 mobile site faults around the East Coast.
“Cyclone Vaianu has caused power outages in parts of Northland, Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, and Gisborne, which has impacted a number of Spark cell towers,” a Spark spokeswoman said.
“Currently no Spark cell sites are physically damaged. However power is essential for cell sites to operate.
“Where it is safe, our technicians have set up temporary fuel generators for power at priority cell cite locations to provide emergency coverage for customers in these areas.”
Additional generators are being sourced from unaffected regions to supply temporary power to affected sites," the spokeswoman said.
“For more than 3000 of our fixed broadband customers currently affected by the recent outages, we are providing support through our Outage Assist tool - which offers free mobile texts, calls and data until broadband is restored.”
“Through our recently launched satellite service [with Starlink], more than 20,000 Spark customers with eligible phones and plans, or who have purchased satellite as an optional extra, have been able to stay in touch with friends and family through text and data.
“During Cyclone Vaianu, we have also opened our satellite-to-mobile texting service to all Spark customers across the North Island, Chatham Islands, Marlborough, and Tasman. More than 2500 people have accessed the special emergency satellite service since we opened this up.”
The industry was under pressure after extended Cyclone Gabrielle blackouts on the East Coast, tied to bridges and roads washing away and taking fibre with them.
As the cyclone bore down, One NZ said it would open its satellite-to-mobile texting service to all customers in areas where regular service was interrupted by the cyclone.
The service is usually a $20 add-on if not bundled in a plan.
This morning, One NZ’s Flood said: “Eligible customers will have access to voice – via WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger calling – data and text via our satellite service, regardless of the weather.”
One NZ and Spark run cut-down “lite” versions of several popular apps for their respective Starlink-based satellite-to-mobile services.
Spark said: “We’ve strategically positioned portable Starlink back-up options and cows [cell towers on wheels] to help restore coverage where it’s most needed.”
2degrees said: “Generators are prepped, we have Starlink back-haul mitigation plans, and teams standing by.”
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.